Jack Mallers Exits Twenty One as Tether’s Three-Way Bitcoin Merger Collapses

Twenty One Capital, controlled by stablecoin issuer Tether, listed on the New York Stock Exchange in December 2025 after merging with a Cantor Fitzgerald blank-check company. Its core strategy is to give public-market investors exposure to Bitcoin through a large corporate treasury. In April 2026, Tether proposed combining Twenty One with Jack Mallers’ payments platform Strike and miner Elektron Energy, seeking a single listed company spanning financial services, mining infrastructure, capital markets and treasury operations.

Twenty One said on July 21 that Mallers stepped down as CEO effective July 20 to focus full-time on Strike. The board named Elektron founder Raphael Zagury as his successor. Strike will remain independent, ending the proposed three-way merger, while a possible Twenty One-Elektron combination remains under preliminary review with no assurance of a deal. Twenty One holds 43,514 Bitcoin, the second-largest public-company stash after Strategy. Its NYSE-listed shares fell nearly 18% on Tuesday and have lost more than 80% from last year’s high.